Axis Global Partners Provides Service and Support to W.A. Thorpe and Sons Ltd. from Halfway Around the World

The island of St. Helena is a British territory that sits amidst two million square miles of South Atlantic, between Africa and South America. This remote island is home to W.A. Thorpe & Sons Ltd. a family-owned business that has been in operation since 1865. W.A. Thorpe & Sons Ltd. provides residents and tourists with goods ranging from groceries to chain saws, through one wholesale depot and three retail shops.

A Retail System Goes Adrift
A six-day’s journey on the RMS St. Helena is the only way to reach the island and it arrives every three weeks. It takes about two months to receive goods purchased on order and as one could imagine it isn’t the ideal place to be when needing an updated software application. Nick Thorpe, Owner of Thorpe and Sons explains, “Our internet connection is absolutely appalling…sometimes we spend hours waiting for the mouse to move.” So you can imagine their unhappiness when they started having difficulty within their Point of Sale system. Nick continues, “About half of our business is in the retail industry, and we have gone through some pretty dreadful programs over the years. When we started experiencing data corruption and downtime we knew we needed to find something new – but our remote location could make this a very difficult process.” On the other side of the world, stuck with a product he couldn’t run his business on, Thorpe & Sons not only needed a new solution but a partner they could count on to provide prompt customer service from thousands of miles away. “We needed help quickly, but it wasn’t as if anybody could come and see us…not unless they had a yacht or a month to spare – so we required someone who was capable of reaching across the distance to help us remotely.”

Nick was familiar with Axis Global Partners through a mutual business relationship and he turned to them for help. Richard White, a Senior Business Consultant at Axis Global Partners recalls, “When Thorpe and Sons contacted us, the inadequacies of their mission critical Point of Sale System was having an adverse impact on their operations.” Axis recommended a new Point of Sale system that would integrate with their current Sage ERP Accpac application. From halfway around the world, not to mention completely different time zones, Axis remotely logged into Thorpe and Sons’ systems and successfully implemented, trained and supported the new solution.

Axis Global Partners’ Service and Support is a Breath of Fresh Air
With better reporting capabilities, clear sales figures and more options for data drilldown, Thorpe and Sons now has a solution they can count on. “The new system and support have helped me enormously,” reflects Nick. “We sell over £ 4 million pounds of goods each year, and a lot of that is groceries. A new Point of Sale system greatly enhanced our productivity. Axis has been very helpful, in transferring their knowledge of the system, and responded timely to our questions. I would absolutely refer them to anyone who needed service and I’m highly impressed at how they respond in such a timely manner.”

Axis Global Partners is able to provide the kind of support Thorpe and Sons needs regardless of their remote location. They now have peace of mind knowing that whenever they pick up the phone they are going to have someone on the other end that is invested in helping them succeed. Manny Buigas, Principal at Axis Global Partners concludes, “We strive to empower our clients so they can focus on their business, not their software. We offer a one stop shop solution that starts with understanding our clients’ needs. The initial software selection and purchase is just the beginning of the relationship, but there’s so much more to it. From ongoing support, additional training and being there to answer questions as they arise – we work diligently to our earn client’s trust, wherever they are and whenever they need us.” Nick praises Axis Global Partners by saying, “I am so impressed with the Axis team. They are business experts who understand their clients’ needs and provide us with top-notch service.”